


Alex 'The Rucksack' Mercer

by TinyChubbyBird



Category: Prototype (Video Games)
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Angst, Other, alex isn't really a person here, but i like it, but i miss the old one, evil alex was hot, it's soft in a weird way, just weird shit alright, kind of, like idk how my brain came up with this, prototype 2 alex but we all want the old one back, this is really weird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27175444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinyChubbyBird/pseuds/TinyChubbyBird
Summary: Alex Mercer was dead.Or was he?
Relationships: Alex Mercer/You
Comments: 12
Kudos: 16





	Alex 'The Rucksack' Mercer

After James Heller killed Mercer and got rid of all infected inside the city, things were relatively back to normal. At least there was no more outbreak, and no Evolved supporting Mercer's crazy plan walking around. Blackwatch was still a problem, but surely Dana and Heller could take care of that too. I had been worried Heller was going to turn into a new Mercer, but despite getting his memories, he was still the same Heller we’d all gotten to know. 

I found myself missing Alex. The old Alex, before he went all evil and tried to solve all world problems by creating _One Mind_ , before he started villain monologuing and acting all cunning and deceitful. Honestly, the way he used to talk and act had reminded me a lot of a cult leader, but I never dared saying that to his face.

No, I missed the Alex Mercer that had fought his way through the military, Blackwatch and Greene to get the answers he wanted, to stop what was going down. The Alex that protected his sister at all cost, that was angry but still had somewhat of a soft core - He wasn't exactly good, but he wasn't _evil_ either. 

But I knew that Alex was gone. There was only hope that if Mercer _did_ come back (again), he might be a changed virus-person, no longer trying to pursue a future that sounded like insane cult-believe. 

*

I had found Mercer's remains. 

In their fight, Heller had ripped off and thrown away Mercer's arms. I knew that even the smallest bit of Mercer's body could form a new one if it managed to attach itself to another living being and consume it to form more biomass. 

So now I knew that Mercer wasn't completely dead, and I didn't know what to do with that knowledge. Of course I was relieved, but a large part of me was also scared of what he was going to do next. 

The arms were no longer shaped like arms, but had become one black blob of biomass, pulsating with red light. It was moving around slowly, yet at a surprisingly fast pace, most likely searching for something to consume. It had already sensed my presence and was crawling towards me. For some reason, I knew it wouldn't attack me. Alex and I had known each other for a long time. He was my friend, and while I hadn't agreed with his plans, I never stopped being his friend. 

The biomass stopped a few feet in front of me. We were in a dark alleyway, further away from the busy city life, so there was a rather low chance of someone walking in on us. It was damn sad to see him like this, and I knew the more I'd think about it the more likely I'd start crying, but Alex wouldn't want my pity, and he had always been awkward with feelings so I pulled myself together.

“Hey Alex,” I greeted him softly. I wasn't sure if he could still hear me, since he didn't have ears. He didn't have eyes either, but the virus had probably given him other, more predatory senses to spot his prey. 

But I wanted to have a talk with him, so I needed to make sure he could hear me. 

“If you can understand what I'm saying, could you tap my foot or something?” I didn't actually know what he was capable of in this form, so I had to make a wild guess. 

To my surprise, Mercer's remains actually formed a dark tendril that reached out to me and tapped my shoe, before retreating back into itself. I smiled at it, actually happy to see him again, even if he was only a disgusting blob of virus biomass. 

“It's good to see you again, Alex.” I lowered myself to the ground until I was sitting comfortably, taking off my backpack and settling it aside. “While I have to be honest and say that I'm glad Heller won the fight, I did miss you. I kind of knew you weren't dead - or, well, you know what I mean.”

Alex had mentioned something about being ‘beyond life and death’, and while I never really understood what he meant by that, I knew it probably wasn't just crazy villain-talk. 

The biomass crawled closer, and I imagined Alex sitting down to join me, smiling in that dangerous Mercer way that was always more soft and private when directed at me. His remains didn't look particularly upset about my admission for being glad Heller won, but then again I didn't know what an upset biomass blob looked like. 

“I know this is kind of one-sided since you don't look like you're able to speak, but I wanna say something I was too nervous to tell you while you were all…” I trailed off, trying to think of a fitting word, sighing when only one came up, “... _evil_.”

Again, he didn't seem offended. Maybe he took it with humor. The Mercer-blob made a weird, alien purring noise, as if to encourage me to continue talking. 

“I know you went on a journey a while ago that didn't go so well, considering you came back and wanted to basically consume all of humanity to become one better, united being. I can't know what you've been through and what it's like, I can't possibly understand what's going on inside your mind, what you feel. But I think I can speak for some percentage of humanity when I tell you that I understand why humanity sucks and why you'd want to change it or get rid of it.” I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I tried to gather my thoughts. 

Alex was still listening intently - not that he had much of a choice, but he would probably let me know in some way if he was getting bored.

So I went on, “Just… try to understand - humans are all individuals, they all have their lives. They all had a childhood, they all spent years growing up, going through a confusing and probably embarrassing teenage phase. There's people that had it rough, and some of them change for the worse because of it. But there's also people who become better. You can't just judge all of humanity, all those billions of people, by looking at a selective few and decide they suck. There's a lot of bad, yeah, but there's also so much good. If you eradicate humanity to get rid of the bad things, you'll automatically also get rid of all the good there is.”

I thought back to how Alex told me about wanting to find himself and his place among humans a while ago, before he went on that soul-searching journey. 

“You're not the original Alex Mercer who's responsible for the first outbreak. You don't like what he's done, disagree with his actions, and that alone proves that you've changed, that you've grown in a way the other Alex didn't. I don't know what exactly happened on your journey, but it must have been bad if it made you want to cut ties with humanity completely. But have you ever thought about all those people that might be like me and Dana? There's millions- _billions_ of people out there you don't know, so there's a high chance of meeting someone special - which would all get lost if you just fucking _ate_ it up like spaghetti.” I took a breath, grimacing slightly at my own preaching. Who was I to tell Alex what to think? But it was too late to take it back now. 

“I guess what I'm trying to say is; don't lose hope. I think we can all agree that humans suck, but we gotta remember that it's not all bad, and we can all make a change by being the change. Hell, Alex, you have the power to do _anything_. If there's a shitty president, you could easily get rid of them, maybe even become the president for a while yourself. You could do anything to make this world a better place. Just, please, don't take it all away. Let it grow and change by itself, with maybe a little... guidance from your side.” 

We sat in silence for a while as I tried wracking my brain for more things to tell him. It was just so much and it was so difficult to explain. But I understood that if Alex really had made up his mind so stubbornly, there was no way for me to change it. It was his right to have a different opinion, he had his own free will after all, and while his actions weren't okay in any way, I couldn't exactly stop him either. I couldn't force him to change, couldn't just shape him into what I wanted him to be, no matter how much I wanted the old Alex back. After all, I couldn't possibly fathom what he'd been through. I wasn't a virus, I hadn't consumed thousands of people and inherited their thoughts and memories. I wasn't Mercer. 

But… there was a way to create a mutual understanding. There was a way for him to understand the way I was thinking, and maybe make me understand him better in return. 

So I slowly extended a hand towards the remains of Alex's biomass. It twitched, as if surprised by my action. 

I gave my friend a small smile. “Maybe we can learn from each other and find a better way together.” A slight tremor made my hand visibly shake as I spoke again, “Or you can just see this as me giving you a second chance. I know you need something to build yourself back up, so… why not just use _me_? I've got you.”

I was scared, of course I was. I didn't want to die. I've seen Alex consume people before, and it never looked like a pleasant experience. It was violent, the people were being ripped apart and eaten up by Mercer's body, becoming part of him. I wondered if I would die instantly, or if I would live long enough to experience the whole procedure? Would I still be aware of myself inside Alex's body, or would I be gone completely? Would he still feel an echo of my conscience after consuming me, or was I just pure biomass to him? 

I was scared, yes. But I loved Alex dearly, even after everything he'd said and done. I still had hope for him, that he'd become better, learn from his actions, make a change without infecting and consuming all of humanity. And as Alex's friend, I was willing to give up my own life to give him a second chance. Maybe if he had access to my own memories he would understand what I was trying to tell him. Maybe it would be enough to give him some hope, too. 

Mercer's remains didn't move for what felt like an eternity, seemingly seriously considering my offer, while I was silently saying goodbye to all my friends and family and preparing myself to die in a pretty horrible way.

Then he moved. He extended several dark tendrils towards my still outstretched hand, and I did my best not to flinch away when they touched my skin, enveloping it like a goopy, pulsating glove. I didn’t know what I expected it to feel like - cold like slime, maybe -, but I certainly didn’t expect it to be so pleasantly warm. 

Alex slowly moved up my arm until his entire biomass was off the ground and on me. It felt _alive_ , further proving that these were the remains of my friend. Sure, all that was currently left of him was a literal blob of virus biomass, but it still had a soul and a heartbeat, which vibrated against my skin until I could feel my own pulse syncing up with it. He was moving onto my back, enveloping my neck in a surprisingly tender way.

This was it. This would be the end of me, and the start of a new and, hopefully, mentally improved Alex. 

His weight pressing against my back felt strangely comforting, and I could almost fool myself into thinking it was an actual body instead of just biomass. I felt a weird pulling sensation at the back of my neck, as if someone was pinching my skin. With goosebumps all over my body, I wondered what he was doing. Shouldn't this be the part where he violently took my body apart, cell by cell, to make it his own? 

Then, suddenly, a wave of _something_ washed over me, and I knew Alex wouldn't kill me - he didn't _want_ to. My relief was drowned out by waves of gratitude, respect and adoration, which I was pretty sure weren't my own.

I felt the strange urge to pick up my backpack, so I did, standing up as I put it back on. Alex's biomass left my body for a moment to wrap around the bag, and a few seconds later I heard my belongings clatter to the ground. 

The backpack had begun to pulsate, albeit a little weaker than before, more subtle. I turned my head to try and look at it. “Alex?”

A dark tendril formed out of the backpack's material, waving at me. I couldn't help the goofy smile that spread across my face at the gesture. 

“Ah, yes, my good friend, Alex ‘ _the rucksack_ ’ Mercer,” I cackled. The straps of the bag squeezed me gently, and I felt a wave of amusement that wasn't my own, making me laugh even harder. 

“Hoo, boy, I must look insane,” I wheezed out, looking around to see if anyone might have stopped to stare at us. But, thankfully, no people were around to witness this… _whatever_ it was. 

I realized that Alex had just, somehow, become my backpack, making it a blob of disguised biomass I could easily carry around. And in ways I probably wouldn't understand, he had established a connection to me - my brain, perhaps? - so I could sense bits of his thoughts and emotions. 

Whatever this was, it was better than being consumed. 

After my laughter had calmed down, I gently held onto the straps of my Mercer-backpack and started walking out the alleyway. “So, where to?”

**Author's Note:**

> Just... don't ask.
> 
> I know this is weird, but I'm strangely soft for this idea.  
> Maybe I'll continue it someday? Don't really know where to go with it plot-wise, but we'll see.


End file.
